


Release

by varooooom



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Humor, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-05
Updated: 2012-09-05
Packaged: 2017-11-13 15:40:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/505065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/varooooom/pseuds/varooooom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Standing at the end of the world, there's a point where you just have to let go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Release

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the Deathly Hallows, so spoilers for that if you've not read the books or have been living under a rock for the past few years. Character death is canon compliant; angst and squishy bits are not.
> 
> Prompt fill for my sun and stars, who gave me [these](http://i.imgur.com/KISfD.jpg) [two](http://i.imgur.com/VyRXa.jpg) pictures and requested some Fred/Hermione. Cheers, baby.

There's a small comfort to be taken in Fred's death: it's over quickly. Fast, _boom_ , over in the blink of an eye before anyone could think to set up a counterspell or even possibly shout a rather handy ' _duck_!' Both would've been nice. The latter wouldn't've gone amiss. But seeing as he got neither, at least there's the very small blessing of it having been over immediately.

Except that it wasn't.

Not that anyone else knows, which is fine, he ought to thank Merlin for that much, but in the moments between the blast and darkness, Fred _sees_. He sees the walls torn apart from who the bloody Hell knows where, sees the age-old stones of Hogwarts come around him like a tunnel leading one direction to Nowhere; he sees Hermione.

For the brief moment between life and death, Fred sees Hermione, and isn't that just shite? The man's already bloody _dying_ , from a load of rocks no less, and the last image to come to mind is the one thing he isn't ready to let go of. Sure, he's _ready_ , ready for the war and the looming threat of death and ' _you all right, Freddie_?' and yes, yes he is. Fred is ready and more than willing to lose it all, because their fight is a good fight, and it is all worth every inch of him.

But his memories? His memories, he would cling to like a starving man to that last bit of treacle tart. Everyone else will remember him when he's gone; why, then, can't he keep that last little inch as well? Why is he left with one last glimpse of something he'll never get to hold onto, something that will slip away just as quickly as he did?

It's bollocks, the lot of it, but Fred sees it all the same. He sees himself slip into the hazy image of the Past, blurred around the edges like some arsehole's gone and spilt butterbeer all down the sides of it in their haste to shove him from the battle into two years earlier. Still in the halls of Hogwarts, but long before they were filled with smoke and bodies and the lingering stench of death. Before even Umbridge had wrapped her piggy little sausages around the school and twisted it into something ugly, when Hermione had cornered Fred for yet another of their products gone wonky in a tester. She shoves and shouted until his snatched her hand up in his own and started hauling her off in a different direction.

"Fred!" she huffed, trying and failing to tug him back to where they were, "Are you even listening to me?"

"'Course I am. Irresponsible and dangerous, sounds about right," he grinned in return. Her efforts to stop him ceased when he threaded their fingers together and continued leading her away, but it didn't stop the vocal protest that got less and less heated as she realised where they were headed. When he stopped before a door, he turned to face her with one of those tell-tale fox grins of his. "You, ah. Might want to look away for this bit, Madam Prefect."

She really shouldn't've expected any less of him, but Fred doesn't think he imagined the flicker of begrudging amusement tugging at her lips before she crossed her arms and turned away.

Bloody well worth it.

A handy spell or two later, and they were out in the open, atop one of the highest towers where the roof was pulled back for an open view of the sky. With night quickly the approaching, the Sun cast an burnt orange colour across the horizon to match the colour of Fred's hair as he tugged her over to the balcony. Hermione hardly needed the encouragement; the sight of the sunset drew her all the way to the railing, and Fred watched as awe spread across her features, made all the brighter in the leaving sunlight.

"Oh, it's _beautiful_ , Fred," she marveled. He stole another moment or two to watch her before humming in agreement and coming up behind her to bracket her with his arms. She only gave a few wistful minutes before turning just enough to glare at him. "Not that this isn't absolutely _lovely_ and all, but don't think I've forgotten -"

"I didn't bring you up here to distract you, Hermione," he sighed, then wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer. "Well, not _only_ to distract you." Hermione turned back to look out towards the sprawling hills of Scotland that conceal Hogwarts from the rest of the world, but Fred's view was narrowed down to the red at the tip of her ears. He smiled lightly, "I brought you to understand."

"To understand _what_ , why you gave a second year a treat to make him _faint_? He couldn't _wake up_ , Fred."

"To understand why we do what we do."

"I _know_ why. I suppose you think it's terribly funny."

"Well, _yeah_ , 'cos it _is_ , but that's not all," he chuckled, and she folded her arms over her chest stubbornly, so he wrapped his other arm around her in retaliation. "But that's not all it is." A moment of heavy silence stood with them as the Sun sunk ever lower behind the horizon and the first stars began to shine out high in the darkening skies above them. Fred tugged her closer to stop the chills that had nothing to do with the night air.

"Tell me you can't feel it. Something's coming." Hermione stiffened in his arms and he took that as answer enough to continue. "What with the Order and Harry, that bloody troll they've got parading about as a teacher. Something big's bound our way, innit? Seems a rubbish time to be opening a joke shop."

He didn't have to see her face to know she was frowning, and not with disdain or reprimand but _fear_. "It's _dangerous_. And reckless."

"And all the more necessary for it. Lookit that," he said, hooking his chin over her shoulder and nodding towards the grounds that were quickly being swept up in darkness and any lingering students were being ushered back indoors, followed by the litter of stars twinkling behind them. The burnt orange-red was replaced with deep midnight blue, and even if this weren't the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, there'd be something magical about it. She leant back against him, then, and he smiled once more - something sadder that she couldn't see, and he was grateful for it. "It's not going to last much longer. You know it. I know it. The whole damned school'd know it if the Prophet weren't keepin' its ugly nose shoved so far up -"

" _Fred_."

"Right, sorry. It's just," he sighed, bundled her up closer and she finally placed her hands on top of his arms. "The whole sodding world's going tits over arse, and when everything gets all dark, you've got to make your own light. We wouldn't be Weasleys if we didn't make the biggest and the brightest."

Hermione stayed quiet, head turned to the side just enough to bring him into her peripheral. Her brows were still furrowed, and her voice came quiet. "I don't understand."

Fred released her then to spin her around and press her back against the railing, toe to toe and one hand cupping her cheek to tilt her head up. Her breath caught just a little, and instinct had her staring at his lips before looking up to meet his eyes. He grinned and the coming moonlight couldn't hold a candle.

"If it all ends tomorrow, I want to be able to say we had the last laugh."

She huffed out a laugh, the first smile since she tromped up to him fuming earlier, and shook her head. "Right up to the grave, Fred Weasley."

"You better bloody believe it."

He kissed her then, and closes his eyes for the very last time with a smile on his lips. And, well - maybe there's comfort to be had in that as well.


End file.
